Are Local Incinerators Just A Load Of Hot Air?
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK 
on 08.21.06
This is the question that Lucy Siegle asks in yesterday's Observer Magazine in response to the news that 'The residents of Newhaven in East Sussex, UK, will discover this week whether they're stuck with a 330ft chimney courtesy of waste giant Onyx, which will also install a 'waste transfer facility' in nearby Hollingdean to sort rubbish to feed the incinerator. The Hollingdean plant will be sited next to a primary school, so the kids can get the full impact of the sights, sounds and emissions of a constant stream of 40-tonne trucks.' Residents of Newhaven and Hollingdean have started campaigns against this proposal. In Newhaven Defenders of the Ouse Valley and Estuary say no to an incineration plant which would be seven double decker buses high. In Hollingdean they are saying Dump The Dump. The serious worry, apart from discouraging reuse and recycling, is 'the prospect of emissions including dioxins. The ash from incinerators is highly toxic and driven to landfill in any case.'
'Greenpeace alleges that incinerators belch out the equivalent of 300 wheelie bins of exhaust gases every second.' Friends of The Earth say, 'Incinerators need a minimum of rubbish to operate. To meet demand, local authorities are abandoning recycling and waste reduction plans.' This opinion is not just held by environmental groups either. Siegle quotes Peter Jones, director of Biffa waste as saying, 'It is entirely possible to achieve the Landfill directive without using incineration, using a flexible pick-and-mix option to utilise source separation, kerbside collection, composting, recycling and mechanical screening to deal with municipal.' Let's hope New Haven and Hollingdean don't go up in smoke. via: Observer Magazine.
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We all want our waste to go magically "away." Maybe if we all had incinerators in our neighborhoods, we would get serious about waste reduction.
Cause and effect. Stop producing so much rubbish and there'd be no need to have the incinerator to start with. It's OUR waste causing the problem, so ultimately WE need to take responsibility for reducing it. Greenpeace and FOE can jump up and down shouting about emissions until they're blue in the face, but I fear they're missing the point somewhat.
It's not a nice prospect for the local residents, but if anything has the power to focus the mind on just how much stuff gets needlessly thrown away, it's an incinerator at the end of your garden.
I'd love to have these wte plants around everywhere. They rock.